Data Literacy

Are There White Sharks Swimming Among Us?

The company Strava was in the news recently for its ability to display highly accurate maps using position data from personal fitness devices (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.). Not only are GPS fitness devices tracking a person’s mileage on land, many also track water activities, such as swimming, to within a few meters.

Where Science Meets Science Fiction

I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about how we can better teach science using data. I believe that 21st Century science is increasingly data-intensive, and that in order to teach science as it is actually being practiced, it should be possible to identify datasets and data stories relevant to most, if not all, topics in modern science to use in the classroom.

Identifying Curriculum Design Patterns as a Strategy for Focusing Geoscience Education Research: A Proof of Concept Based on Teaching and Learning With Geoscience Data

The geoscience education research (GER) enterprise faces a challenge in moving instructional resources and ideas from the well-populated domain of ‘‘practitioners’ wisdom’’ into the research-tested domains of St. John and McNeal’s pyramid of evidence (this volume). We suggest that the process could be accelerated by seeking out clusters of instructional materials that share a common design pattern and then researching the affordances, pitfalls, and mechanism for the cluster.

Tools for Building a Big Data Career Path

The documents included in Tools for Building a Big Data Career Path can assist schools looking to design and implement career pathways in big data.  These tools have been used by community colleges involved in the NSF-ATE funded Creating Pathways for Big Data Careers (DUE-1501927). They consist of:

1. Building Blocks for a Big Data Career Pathway
This template can be used to present the programs, courses, supporting activities, school and employer linkages that comprise a school’s proposed pathway.

Exploring Data through Ocean Tracks

This video was featured in the 2017 STEM for All Video Showcase, held May 15-22, 2017. View the presentation.

Reviewing Ocean Tracks at Scripps

In May, I visited La Jolla and Scripps Institute of Oceanography for the first time. Coming from Maine and what seemed like a never-ending winter I was looking forwards to the sun and warmth of California. Of course, I arrived on an unusually rainy day. However, the weather soon returned to its usual splendor and I walked along the shore to the meeting room at Scripps where I was to help work on the undergraduate modules of Ocean Tracks.

To Make a Video?

ODI is the sum of many parts. Composed of 18 projects (5 actively funded) and about 25 staff, there are a lot of moving pieces to ODI. At any given time—in addition to the regular day-to-day work of moving 5 NSF-funded projects forward successfully—our staff is attending or presenting at conferences, meeting with partners and funders, and/or working on proposals for future work. As you might imagine, we are careful to prioritize our time.

What does the Data/Big Data Practitioner need to know and be able to do?

Cover of the Profile of the Data PractitionerIt is no longer news that the use of data-based decision making has reached a critical mass in every industry sector.

Assessing Global Kelp Forest Change: From “Little” To “Big” Data

I can feel the energy of the waves gently pushing at my body, the sound of bubbles rising by my ears. I look down at my underwater clipboard and carefully write down “5”; the number of kelp stems, or fronds, that I’ve just counted. I let my tethered pencil go, and it floats up in front of me as a fish swims by. Everything seems to move in slow motion around me. I am relaxed, but focused.

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